CH. IV BODY 6^ 







A drag is plainly lined, and there is nothing more 

 stylish for the purpose than a very light drab cloth. 

 There should be straps of some kind on the under 

 side of the roof to hold hats or any similar light 

 thing's. It is a serious mistake to make the inside 

 of a coach so low that a man cannot sit in it with 

 his hat on. When a full load is on a drag, the ser- 

 vants have to go inside, and, apart from the ques- 

 tion of their comfort, it does not look well to have the 

 men sitting bare-headed ; and if they are required 

 to get out, they should be ready to do so quickly, 

 and not have to wait to put on their hats. For this 

 reason the height from the top of the wooden seat 

 should be not less than 3 ft. 8 in. This will admit 

 of a cushion 3 inches thick, and will give a height of 

 3 ft. 5 in. from the top of the cushion to the under 

 side of the roof, which is enough for a tall man with 

 his hat on. If the top of the wooden seat is 1 2 inches 

 above the centre of the floor, the whole inside height 

 will be 4 ft. 8 in. This is apparently greater than 

 the outside height of the body given in the begin- 

 ning of this chapter, but that is because the floor 

 drops inside as low as the bottom of the rocker. 



Many of the coaches in England in the early 

 part of the 19th century were uncomfortably low, and 

 there has been a disposition to copy them in modern 

 drags.* 



* ' The inside of the coach was very small. E. had to sit without 

 his hat, and he is not particularly tall.' — Extract from a private 

 Journal of Travel in England in 1835. 



